An Indian Journey through Lent, Day 32
The Toy Railway
This holiday/R & R in Shimla is nearly at an end. Lena’s cough is still troubling her, and walking up Shimla’s numerous steep hills leaves her breathless, but in a way that has been good. She has been forced to slow down; her enforced Lenten fast has been from work! Today we celebrated 32 years since we met with an excellent lunch in a fine hotel.
After lunch I did a little research for my parents’, brother’s and sister-in-law’s visit to Shimla later this year. Between 1847 and 1903 the British built a railway between Shimla and and Kalka, not far from Chandigarh. In October my family will ride on this stupendous feat of engineering, called the “Toy Railway” because of its narrow gauge. Just under a hundred kilometres long, with over 100 hundred tunnels, twisting and rising, the railway is a feat of engineering extraordinary even amongst the many that the British achieved in India.
Indians still feel ambiguous about the British heritage. Coming first to trade the Brits used the empire-builders’ old tactic of “divide and rule” ruthlessly to increase their power across the patchwork of competing states and kingdoms that made up the subcontinent. Then they consolidated their power so that from Afghanistan to Burma, and Kashmir to Kanyakumari the sub-continent became the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. A photo I saw a couple of days ago in the “Viceroy’s Lodge” of one of the late nineteenth century Viceroys and his senior staff showed clearly the arrogance of empire in their expressions and demeanour. Of course the Indians didn’t like being ruled by foreigners! No one does, especially when the rulers helped themselves to the great wealth of the sub-continent, and showed often and clearly that they thought themselves to be superior to the “natives”.
Yet Indians still acknowledge the good qualities of the British - the rule of law, education, the sense of justice, the brilliant feats of engineering. I don’t know how many times Indians have told me that India’s network of railways unified the country. And Christian Indians would say that the British enabled the good news of Christ to be shared across the country too.
Life’s complicated, isn’t it!
The Toy Railway
This holiday/R & R in Shimla is nearly at an end. Lena’s cough is still troubling her, and walking up Shimla’s numerous steep hills leaves her breathless, but in a way that has been good. She has been forced to slow down; her enforced Lenten fast has been from work! Today we celebrated 32 years since we met with an excellent lunch in a fine hotel.
After lunch I did a little research for my parents’, brother’s and sister-in-law’s visit to Shimla later this year. Between 1847 and 1903 the British built a railway between Shimla and and Kalka, not far from Chandigarh. In October my family will ride on this stupendous feat of engineering, called the “Toy Railway” because of its narrow gauge. Just under a hundred kilometres long, with over 100 hundred tunnels, twisting and rising, the railway is a feat of engineering extraordinary even amongst the many that the British achieved in India.
Indians still feel ambiguous about the British heritage. Coming first to trade the Brits used the empire-builders’ old tactic of “divide and rule” ruthlessly to increase their power across the patchwork of competing states and kingdoms that made up the subcontinent. Then they consolidated their power so that from Afghanistan to Burma, and Kashmir to Kanyakumari the sub-continent became the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. A photo I saw a couple of days ago in the “Viceroy’s Lodge” of one of the late nineteenth century Viceroys and his senior staff showed clearly the arrogance of empire in their expressions and demeanour. Of course the Indians didn’t like being ruled by foreigners! No one does, especially when the rulers helped themselves to the great wealth of the sub-continent, and showed often and clearly that they thought themselves to be superior to the “natives”.
Yet Indians still acknowledge the good qualities of the British - the rule of law, education, the sense of justice, the brilliant feats of engineering. I don’t know how many times Indians have told me that India’s network of railways unified the country. And Christian Indians would say that the British enabled the good news of Christ to be shared across the country too.
Life’s complicated, isn’t it!
Nice Blog... Thanks for sharing..
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